Unpaid bar tab leads to ID theft arrest

An unpaid bar tab led to a woman's arrest on identity theft charges in Spokane Valley late Saturday.

A man and woman left the Corner Club Bar, 2208 N. Park Road, with a $117 bar tab after their debit card was declined but said they were going to their nearby motel room to get cash.

When they didn't return, a bar employee gave the declined debit card to Spokane Valley police Officer Justin Elliot, who determined it was stolen.

Employees at the nearby Red Top Motel said the woman named on the stolen card had rented a room there, so Elliot and Officers Dale Wells and David Lawhorn went to the room "and contacted an intoxicated Kathryn Elizabeth Reed," police said.

Reed, 24, first claimed to be the woman named on the card. She invited police to retrieve her medical marijuana card from her purse when police spotted pot on the nightstand.

Police didn't find the card, but they did find identification belonging to Reed, as well as financial information and mail from five other people, according to a news release. Each person lives in the area of 11800 East Maxwell Avenue, where the declined debit card was reported stolen in a car prowling Feb. 18.

Reed was booked into jail on a felony count of second-degree identity theft and misdemeanor counts of third-degree theft (for the bar tab) and possession of marijuana.